Black Friday gun sales hit an all time record high last week with demand for new firearms so overwhelming that it caused outages at the FBI background check center on two separate occasions.

Fueled by fears that the Obama administration will go after gun rights during a lame duck term, the FBI reported 154,873 background check requests on Friday – a 20 per cent increase on last year’s record total of 129,166 checks.

The number of guns sold could actually be double or more that figure because only one background check is recorded per sale even if buyers purchase multiple firearms.

An addition of note, parts are suffering from shortages and long lead times.
An 80% AR lower will take nearly 5 months to get. If I order it right now. A barrel assy ( I’m looking to get a RRA Predator Pursuit heavy 20″ assy), that’s probably 3 months out.
And I expect it to get worse.

I just called them & didn’t get an answer.
I wanted to know if I could buy a receiver without
any custom engraving, since I don’t see that option on their site. Seems self defeating to have a bunch of identifying markings put on an 80% lower.
I could just make one, but sitting down and writing all the code would take a long time. Not to mention a piece of 7075 would cost damn near half of what they are charging.
If I hear back, we’ll see.

I looked at building a AR style 5.56 since I am a old gun plummer from way back I have the ability, that being said a pretty basic build with parts availability was gonna be in the 1k range, I can buy a off the shelf basic for a little less and not have the headach of chasing parts.

This message comes from the public library. I’ve got a problem with my modem at home. I can’t respond to responses as I will be out of here soon.

This Thanksgiving Day was spent watching my Cousins show me their stash of weaponry. “This is what everybody needs for what’s coming”. Later that weekend me and my buddies went to see Red Dawn 2012.

It’s a good movie in spite of the ridiculous suggestion that North Korea could invade anyone. Well, we all knew that the Chinese were slated for that role until they complained loudly about it. Those troops didn’t look Korean. They weren’t fooling anybody.

Ok.. Question.. Why an AR? Yes. they’re pretty darn cool. Decent rifles. Customizable until the end of time with thousands of bits and pieces.. Most of which seem geared toward the cosmetic.
But why an AR over any other good hunting rifle? Even chambered in the same round? Why not a solid .308? A Weatherby? A good ol M1A (my personal fav and looking to buy)?

What is it about the AR that makes it such a desirable rifle?
(Sorry for the hijack but I am very curious to hear opinions..)

You can carry a more ammo than with a .308 rifle. It is light. It is reliable. Everybody else has one so you can share magazines and ammo with, well, everybody else. It gets beat up, wet and gross and keeps firing. I have used the form-factor in the Army and privately since 1982 so I could operate it in my sleep. Maintenance is easy. It has a pretty good punch.

That was in Blackhawk Down. You die when you get hit with 5.56 NATO. You just might get another step or two in before you do. 7.62 NATO drops you in your tracks. My son tells me that, in his experience, people die when shot with either round. Of course he was doing up close work, not long distance.

On page 208 of “Black Hawk Down” you will find Delta Sgt Howe’s musings on the ineffectiveness of the 5.56 mm green tip vs Delta Sgt Shughart’s 7.62 mm. Of course, in the same book you will find the claim (on page 44) that an elderly Somali took perhaps a dozen 7.62 slap rounds, “…retrieved his weapon, and even got off a shot or two”.

By the way, up to a point, the longer the rifle barrel, the greater the velocity. A longer barreled 5.56 mm rifle will have a much greater range and kinetic energy than a short barreled rifle. A little carbine might look cool, but you are giving up some punch. Furthermore, a fast 5.56 round can have more energy on impact than a slow 7.62 round.

Finally, you are not subject to the Geneva Convention and its limits on soft point ammo. I would say an expanding 5.56 round would be every bit as deadly as a 7.62 FMJ round and and a 7.62 FMJ round drops you were you stand. Of course if what you want to do is punch through brick walls, 7.62 FMJ is what you want.

I guess three shots with a 5.56 in which one hits the enemy is infinitely more deadly than one shot with a 7.62 that misses. In the aggregate: More ammo means more kills. It is statistical.

The AR is a solid platform. I too, prefer the AK. I think this is due to the fact that my first “assault rifle” was the same AK I still have and shoot fairly regular. I used to stalk deer with it. I just found out that it’s illegal to hunt with FMJ. Oops. Who knew?

The biggest reason for the AR is that everyone owns one, including the military. It’s really that simple.

Next, would be putting rounds down range. A normal rifle will only put a few rounds on target before being forced to reload. You can get 30 round magazines for any AR*. AR’s are incredibly light, customizable to infinity, and easy to disassemble/maintain.

*except in The People’s Republics of California, Mass, New Jersey, and NY.

Virtually interchangable parts from every major manufacturer, in a SHTF zombie pockylips if you kill off your best outfitted AR by losing a firing pin retaining pin, or drop a sear pin out you can get a match from any other AR style rifle from most any manufacture breed. We used to teach weapon canibilization for field purposes.

Update.
I did get to talk to someone at Sure Shot.
As of now I have ordered a lower to build. The caveat is that I did have to pay for engraving. That is their business so there was no way around it.
But I was told that I could choose to leave areas blank. And that works for me.
All I wanted engraved was the safety and caliber.
So hopefully I’ll have the part soon and can start building this thing.
The attraction of the AR for me also lies in the fact that my Mini is the same caliber, so I only need to by one size ammo.
Good thing right now the OT is going full bore at work, so the extra funds to build this there. I figure like was noted above, around a grand to do this project.

THANKS, Nota, for that link.
I was really bummed at how long lead times were from other suppliers.

Americans with 5.56 rifles have killed a whole shitload more dinks with 7.62×39 than the other way around. It isn’t even close. That probably has less to do with caliber than ability to shoot, move and communicate.

You may note that I haven’t had a single bad thing to say about the AK. Nothing wrong with it.

I will say this, however: I can run at a jog while nailing targets to my left and right with my Colt SP1. I can make tennis balls pop like popcorn down range while on the move. I bought my SP1 in 1985 and have been shooting that same rifle continuously since then. It never fails me and – I hope I don’t sound too cocky here – I am frickin’ deadly with it. After 27 years with it, it is like an extension of my body.

If the day comes, I expect to leave a lot of dead dinks with AKs before I go down. None of that has anything to do with the caliber of the rounds I am shooting.

Again, I don’t want to sound cocky. I can’t seem to hit the broad side a barn with my Glock. My Colt SP1 AR-15, however, is my best friend and we work and play very, very well together.